Bible in 90 Days

Pekah’s Rule Over Israel

²⁷ Pekah son of Remaliah began to rule over Israel in Samaria during the 52nd year that Azariah was king of Judah. Pekah ruled 20 years. ²⁸ Pekah did what the Lord said was wrong. He did not stop committing the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat who caused Israel to sin.

²⁹ King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria came to fight against Israel while Pekah was king of Israel. Tiglath Pileser captured Ijon, Abel Bethmaacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, Galilee, and all the area of Naphtali. He took the people from these places as prisoners to Assyria.

³⁰ Hoshea son of Elah made plans against Pekah son of Remaliah and killed him. Then Hoshea became the new king. This was during the 20th year that Jotham son of Uzziah was king of Judah.

³¹ All the great things that Pekah did are written in the book, The History of the Kings of Israel.

Jotham’s Rule Over Judah

³² Jotham son of Uzziah became king of Judah. This was during the second year that Pekah son of Remaliah was king of Israel. ³³ Jotham was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled 16 years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok. ³⁴ Jotham did what the Lord said was right, just as his father Uzziah had done. ³⁵ But he did not destroy the high places. The people still made sacrifices and burned incense at those places of worship. Jotham built the upper gate of the Lord’s Temple. ³⁶ All the great things that Jotham did are written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah.

³⁷ At that time the Lord sent King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah to fight against Judah.

³⁸ Jotham died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David, his ancestor. Jotham’s son Ahaz became the new king after him.

Ahaz Becomes King Over Judah

16 Ahaz son of Jotham became king of Judah during the 17th year that Pekah son of Remaliah was king of Israel. ² Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king. He ruled 16 years in Jerusalem. Unlike his ancestor David, Ahaz did not do what the Lord said was right. ³ He did the same bad things the kings of Israel had done. He even burned his son as a sacrifice.^[a] He copied the terrible sins of the nations that the Lord had forced to leave the country when the Israelites came. ⁴ Ahaz made sacrifices and burned incense at the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

⁵ King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel came to fight against Jerusalem. Rezin and Pekah surrounded Ahaz, but could not defeat him. ⁶ At that time King Rezin of Aram took back Elath for Aram. Rezin took all the people of Judah who were living in Elath. The Arameans settled in Elath, and they still live there today.

⁷ Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria with this message: “I am your servant. I am like a son to you. Come and save me from the king of Aram and the king of Israel. They have come to fight me.” ⁸ Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was in the Temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s palace. Then Ahaz sent a gift to the king of Assyria. ⁹ The king of Assyria listened to Ahaz and went to fight against Damascus. The king captured that city and took the people from Damascus as prisoners to Kir. He also killed Rezin.

¹⁰ King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria. Ahaz saw the altar at Damascus. He sent a model and pattern of this altar to Uriah the priest. ¹¹ Then Uriah the priest built an altar just like the model King Ahaz had sent him from Damascus. Uriah the priest built the altar this way before King Ahaz came back from Damascus.

¹² When the king arrived from Damascus, he saw the altar. He offered sacrifices on the altar. ¹³ Ahaz burned his burnt offerings and grain offerings on it. He poured his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his fellowship offerings on this altar.

¹⁴ Ahaz took the bronze altar that was before the Lord from the front of the Temple. This bronze altar was between Ahaz’s altar and the Temple of the Lord. Ahaz put the bronze altar on the north side of his own altar. ¹⁵ He commanded Uriah the priest, “Use the large altar to burn the morning burnt offerings, the evening grain offerings, and the drink offerings from all the people of this country. Sprinkle all the blood from the burnt offering and other sacrifices on the large altar. But I will use the bronze altar to get answers from God.” ¹⁶ Uriah the priest did everything that King Ahaz commanded him to do.

¹⁷ There were carts with bronze panels and basins for the priests to wash their hands. King Ahaz removed the panels and basins and cut up the carts. He also took the large tank^[b] off the bronze bulls that stood under it. He put the large tank on a stone pavement. ¹⁸ Workers had built a covered place inside the Temple area for the Sabbath meetings. But Ahaz removed the covered place and the outside entrance for the king. He removed all these from the Lord’s Temple. Ahaz did this because of the king of Assyria.

¹⁹ All the great things that Ahaz did are written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah. ²⁰ Ahaz died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Ahaz’s son Hezekiah became the new king after him.

Hoshea Begins His Rule Over Israel

17 Hoshea son of Elah began to rule in Samaria over Israel. This was during the 12th year that Ahaz was king of Judah. Hoshea ruled nine years. ² He did what the Lord said was wrong, but he was not as bad as the kings of Israel who had ruled before him.

³ King Shalmaneser of Assyria came to fight against Hoshea and defeated him. So Hoshea paid tribute to Shalmaneser.

⁴ Later, Hoshea sent messengers to the king of Egypt to ask for help. That king’s name was So. That year Hoshea did not pay tribute to the king of Assyria as he did every other year. The king of Assyria learned that Hoshea had made plans against him. So he arrested Hoshea and put him in jail.

⁵ The king of Assyria attacked many places in Israel. Then he came to Samaria and fought against it for three years. ⁶ The king of Assyria took Samaria during the ninth year that Hoshea was king of Israel. He captured many Israelites and took them as prisoners to Assyria. He made them live in Halah by the Habor River at Gozan and in other cities of the Medes.

⁷ These things happened because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God. And it was the Lord who brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt! He saved them from the power of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. But the Israelites began worshiping other gods. ⁸ They began doing the same things that other people did. And the Lord had forced those people to leave their land when the Israelites came. The Israelites also chose to be ruled by kings. ⁹ The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God, and those things were wrong!

The Israelites built high places in all their cities—from the smallest town to the largest city. ¹⁰ They put up memorial stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. ¹¹ They burned incense there in all those places for worship.^[c] They did these things like the nations that the Lord forced out of the land before them. The Israelites did evil things that made the Lord angry. ¹² They served idols, and the Lord had said to them, “You must not do this.”

¹³ The Lord used every prophet and every seer to warn Israel and Judah. He said, “Turn away from the evil things you do. Obey my commands and laws. Follow all the law that I gave to your ancestors. I used my servants the prophets to give this law to you.”

¹⁴ But the people would not listen. They were very stubborn like their ancestors. Their ancestors did not believe the Lord their God. ¹⁵ They refused to follow his laws and the agreement he made with their ancestors. They would not listen to his warnings. They worshiped idols that were worth nothing and they themselves became worth nothing. The Lord had warned them not to do the evil things that the people in the nations around them did. But they lived the same way those people lived.

¹⁶ The people stopped following the commands of the Lord their God. They made two gold statues of calves. They made Asherah poles. They worshiped all the stars of heaven and served Baal. ¹⁷ They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They used magic and witchcraft to try to learn the future. They sold themselves to do what the Lord said was evil. They did this to make him angry. ¹⁸ So the Lord became very angry with Israel and removed them from his sight. There were no Israelites left, except the tribe of Judah.

The People of Judah Are Also Guilty

¹⁹ But even the people of Judah did not obey the commands of the Lord their God. They lived just as the Israelites had.

²⁰ The Lord rejected all the Israelites. He brought them many troubles. He let people destroy them. Finally, he threw them away and removed them from his sight. ²¹ He tore them from the family of David, and they made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam pulled the Israelites away from following the Lord. He caused them to commit a great sin. ²² So the Israelites sinned in all the ways Jeroboam did. And they did not stop committing these sins ²³ until the Lord took Israel away from his sight. And he said this would happen. He sent his prophets to tell the people this would happen. So the Israelites were taken out of their country into Assyria. And they have been there to this day.

Foreigners Settle in Israel

²⁴ The king of Assyria took the Israelites out of Samaria and brought in other people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim. They took over Samaria and lived in the cities around it. ²⁵ When these people began to live in Samaria, they did not honor the Lord, so the Lord sent lions to attack them. The lions killed some of them. ²⁶ Some people said to the king of Assyria, “The people who you took away and put in the cities of Samaria don’t know the law of the god of that country. So that god sent lions to attack them. The lions killed them because they don’t know the law of the god of that country.”

²⁷ So the king of Assyria gave this command: “You took some priests from Samaria. Send one of them who I captured back to Samaria. Let that priest go and live there. Then he can teach the people the law of the god of that country.”

²⁸ So one of the priests who the Assyrians had carried away from Samaria came to live in Bethel. He taught the people how they should honor the Lord.

²⁹ But all those people made gods of their own. They put them in the temples at the high places that the people of Samaria had made. They did this wherever they lived. ³⁰ The people of Babylon made the false god Succoth Benoth. The people of Cuthah made the false god Nergal. The people of Hamath made the false god Ashima. ³¹ The people of Avva made the false gods Nibhaz and Tartak. The people from Sepharvaim also burned their children in the fire to honor their false gods, Adrammelech and Anammelech.

³² But they also worshiped the Lord. They chose priests for the high places from among the people. These priests made sacrifices for the people in the temples at those places of worship. ³³ They respected the Lord but also served their own gods, just as they did in their own countries.

³⁴ Even today, they live the same way they did in the past. They don’t honor the Lord. They don’t obey the rules and commands of the Israelites. They don’t obey the law or the commands that the Lord gave to the children of Jacob. ³⁵ The Lord made an agreement with the Israelites. He commanded them, “You must not honor other gods. You must not worship them or serve them or offer sacrifices to them. ³⁶ But you must follow the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt. He used his great power to save you. You must worship him and make sacrifices to him. ³⁷ You must obey the rules, laws, teachings, and commands that he wrote for you. You must obey these things all the time. You must not respect other gods. ³⁸ You must not forget the agreement that I made with you. You must not respect other gods. ³⁹ No, you must respect only the Lord your God. Then he will save you from all your enemies.”

⁴⁰ But the Israelites did not listen. They kept on doing the same things they did before. ⁴¹ So now those other nations respected the Lord, but they also served their own idols. Their children and grandchildren did the same thing their ancestors did. They still do these things to this day.

Hezekiah Begins His Rule Over Judah

18 Hezekiah son of Ahaz was king of Judah. Hezekiah began to rule during the third year that Hoshea son of Elah was king of Israel. ² Hezekiah was 25 years old when he began to rule. He ruled 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi,^[d] the daughter of Zechariah.

³ Hezekiah did what the Lord said was right, just as David his ancestor had done.

⁴ Hezekiah destroyed the high places. He broke the memorial stones and cut down the Asherah poles. At that time the Israelites burned incense to the bronze snake made by Moses. This bronze snake was called “Nehushtan.”^[e] Hezekiah broke this bronze snake into pieces.

⁵ Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like Hezekiah among all the kings of Judah before him or after him. ⁶ He was very faithful to the Lord and did not stop following him. He obeyed the commands that the Lord had given to Moses. ⁷ The Lord was with Hezekiah, so he was successful in everything he did.

Hezekiah broke away from the king of Assyria and stopped serving him. ⁸ Hezekiah defeated the Philistines all the way to Gaza and the area around it. He defeated all the Philistine cities—from the smallest town to the largest city.

The Assyrians Capture Samaria

⁹ King Shalmaneser of Assyria went to fight against Samaria. His army surrounded the city. This happened during the fourth year that Hezekiah was king of Judah. (This was also the seventh year that Hoshea son of Elah was king of Israel.) ¹⁰ At the end of the third year, Shalmaneser captured Samaria. He took Samaria during the sixth year that Hezekiah was king of Judah. (This was also the ninth year that Hoshea was king of Israel.) ¹¹ The king of Assyria took the Israelites as prisoners to Assyria. He made them live in Halah, on the Habor (the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes. ¹² This happened because the Israelites did not obey the Lord their God. They broke his agreement and did not obey everything that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded. The Israelites would not listen to the Lord’s agreement, or do what it taught them to do.

Assyria Gets Ready to Take Judah

¹³ During Hezekiah’s 14th year as king, King Sennacherib of Assyria went to fight against all the strong cities of Judah. Sennacherib defeated them all. ¹⁴ Then King Hezekiah of Judah sent a message to the king of Assyria at Lachish. Hezekiah said, “I have done wrong. Leave me alone, and I will pay whatever you want.”

Then the king of Assyria told King Hezekiah of Judah to pay over 11 tons^[f] of silver and over 1 ton^[g] of gold. ¹⁵ Hezekiah gave all the silver that was in the Lord’s Temple and in the king’s treasuries. ¹⁶ That is when Hezekiah cut off the gold that he had put on the doors and doorposts of the Lord’s Temple and gave it to the king of Assyria.

King of Assyria Sends Men to Jerusalem

¹⁷ The king of Assyria sent his three most important officers with a large army to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. They left Lachish and went to Jerusalem. They stood near the aqueduct by the Upper Pool,^[h] on the street that leads up to Laundryman’s Field. ¹⁸ These men called for the king, but Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah son of Asaph went out to meet them. Eliakim was the palace manager, Joah was the record keeper, and Shebna was the royal secretary.

¹⁹ The commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah this is what the great king, the king of Assyria says:

‘What are you trusting in to help you? ²⁰ If you say, “I trust in power and great battle plans,” then that is useless. Now I ask you, who do you trust so much that you are willing to rebel against me? ²¹ Are you depending on Egypt to help you? Egypt is like a broken walking stick. If you lean on it for support, it will only hurt you and make a hole in your hand. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, cannot be trusted by anyone who depends on him for help. ²² Maybe you will say, “We trust the Lord our God to help us.” But I know that Hezekiah destroyed the altars and high places where people worshiped the Lord. Hezekiah told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship only at this one altar here in Jerusalem.”

²³ ‘If you still want to fight my master, the king of Assyria, I will make this agreement with you. I promise that I will give you 2000 horses if you can find enough men to ride them into battle. ²⁴ But even then you couldn’t beat one of my master’s lowest ranking officers. So why do you still depend on Egypt’s chariots and horse soldiers?

²⁵ ‘Now, do you think I came to this country to destroy it without the Lord’s help? No, the Lord said to me, “Go up against this country and destroy it!”’”

²⁶ Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the commander, “Please speak to us in Aramaic. We understand that language. Don’t speak to us in the language of Judah because the people on the wall will understand you.”

²⁷ But the commander said, “My master sent me to speak to everyone, not just to you and your master. I must also speak to those people sitting there on the wall. When we surround your city, they will suffer too. Like you, they will become so hungry they will eat their own waste and drink their own urine!”

²⁸ Then the commander, shouting loudly in Hebrew,^[i] gave this warning to them all:

Hear this message from the great king, the king of Assyria! ²⁹ This is what the king says: Don’t let Hezekiah fool you! He cannot save you from my power. ³⁰ Don’t listen to him when he tells you to trust in the Lord. Don’t believe him when he says, “The Lord will save us. He will not let the king of Assyria defeat the city.”

³¹ Don’t listen to Hezekiah! This is what the king of Assyria says: Come out here and show me that you want peace. Then you will all be free to have grapes from your own vines, figs from your own trees, and water from your own well. ³² After some time, I will come and take you to a land like your own. In that new land, you will have plenty of grain for making bread and vineyards for producing wine. I am offering you a choice to live instead of dying.

Don’t believe Hezekiah when he tells you, “The Lord will save us.” He is wrong. ³³ Did any of the gods of other nations save their land from the king of Assyria? ³⁴ When I destroyed the cities of Hamath and Arpad, where were their gods? What about the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Were any gods able to save Samaria from my power? ³⁵ None of the gods of these other places were able to save their land from me! So why do you think the Lord can save Jerusalem from me?

³⁶ But the people were silent. They did not say a word to the commander, because King Hezekiah had commanded them, “Don’t say anything to him.”

³⁷ Then the palace manager (Eliakim son of Hilkiah), the royal secretary (Shebna), and the record keeper (Joah son of Asaph) went to Hezekiah. Their clothes were torn to show they were upset. They told Hezekiah everything the Assyrian commander had said.

Hezekiah Talks With Isaiah the Prophet

19 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes to show he was upset. Then he put on sackcloth and went to the Lord’s Temple.

² Hezekiah sent Eliakim the palace manager, Shebna the royal secretary, and the elders of the priests to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They wore the special clothes that showed they were sad and upset. ³ They said to Isaiah, “King Hezekiah has commanded that today will be a special day for sorrow and sadness. It will be a very sad day, like the time a child should be born, but is not strong enough to come from its mother’s womb. ⁴ The commander’s master, the king of Assyria, has sent him to say bad things about the living God. Maybe the Lord your God will hear all those things and answer them. Maybe the Lord your God will show how wrong the enemy is! So pray for the people who are still left alive.”

⁵ King Hezekiah’s officers went to Isaiah. ⁶ Isaiah said to them, “Give this message to your master, Hezekiah: The Lord says, ‘Don’t be afraid of what you heard from the commanders. Don’t believe what those “boys” from the king of Assyria said to make fun of me. ⁷ Look, I will send a spirit against the king of Assyria. He will get a report warning him about a danger, so he will return to his own country. And I will cut him down with a sword in his own country.’”

The Assyrian Army Leaves Jerusalem

⁸ The commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish. He found him at Libnah, fighting against that city. ⁹ Then the king of Assyria heard a report that said, “Tirhakah,^[j] the king of Ethiopia, has come to fight against you.”

So the king of Assyria sent messengers to Hezekiah again. ¹⁰ He told them, “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah these things:

‘Don’t be fooled by the god you trust when he says Jerusalem will not be defeated by the king of Assyria. ¹¹ You have heard what the kings of Assyria did to all the other countries. We completely destroyed them! Will you be saved? No! ¹² Did the gods of those nations save their people? No, my ancestors destroyed them all. They destroyed Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden living in Tel Assar. ¹³ Where is the king of Hamath? The king of Arpad? The king of the city of Sepharvaim? The kings of Hena and Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah Prays to the Lord

¹⁴ Hezekiah received the letters from the messengers and read them. Then he went up to the Lord’s Temple and laid the letters out in front of the Lord. ¹⁵ Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “Lord, God of Israel, you sit as King above the Cherub angels. You alone are the God who rules all the kingdoms on earth. You made heaven and earth. ¹⁶ Lord, please listen to me. Lord, open your eyes and look at this message. Hear the words that Sennacherib sent to insult the living God. ¹⁷ It is true, Lord. The kings of Assyria did destroy all those nations. ¹⁸ They did throw the gods of those nations into the fire. But they were not real gods. They were only wood and stone—statues that people made. That is why the kings of Assyria could destroy them. ¹⁹ But you are the Lord our God, so please save us from the king of Assyria. Then all the other nations will know that you, Lord, are the only God.”

God Answers Hezekiah

²⁰ Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah. Isaiah said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says this: You prayed to me about the message that came from King Sennacherib of Assyria. I have heard you.

²¹ “This is the Lord’s message against Sennacherib:

The Lord’s Message for Hezekiah

²⁹ Then the Lord said, “I will give you a sign to show that these words are true. You were not able to plant seeds this year, so next year you will eat grain that grows wild from the previous year’s crop. But in the third year, you will eat grain from seeds that you planted. You will harvest your crops and have plenty to eat. You will plant grapevines and eat their fruit. You will plant vineyards and eat the grapes from them. ³⁰ The people from the family of Judah who have escaped and are left alive will be like plants that send their roots deep into the ground and produce fruit above the ground. ³¹ That is because a few people will come out of Jerusalem alive. There will be survivors coming from Mount Zion. The strong love^[l] of the Lord All-Powerful will do this.

³² “So the Lord says this about the king of Assyria:

The Assyrian Army Is Destroyed

³⁵ That night the angel of the Lord went out and killed 185,000 people in the Assyrian camp. When the others got up in the morning, they saw all the dead bodies.

³⁶ So King Sennacherib of Assyria left and went back to Nineveh where he stayed. ³⁷ One day Sennacherib was in the temple of his god Nisroch, worshiping him. His sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with a sword and ran away to Ararat. So his son Esarhaddon became the new king of Assyria.

Hezekiah’s Illness

20 At that time Hezekiah became sick and almost died. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and told him, “The Lord says, ‘You will die soon, so you should tell your family what they should do when you die. You will not get well.’”

² Hezekiah turned his face to the wall that faced the Temple and began praying to the Lord. ³ “Lord, remember that I have sincerely served you with all my heart. I have done what you say is good.” Then Hezekiah cried very hard.

⁴ Before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, he received this message from the Lord, ⁵ “Go back and speak to Hezekiah, the leader of my people. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I heard your prayer and I saw your tears, so I will heal you. On the third day you will go up to the Temple of the Lord. ⁶ I will add 15 years to your life. I will save you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will protect this city. I will do this for myself and because of the promise I made to my servant David.’”

⁷ Then Isaiah said, “Crush figs together and put them on your sore; you will get well.”

So they took the mixture of figs and put it on Hezekiah’s sore place, and he got well.

⁸ Hezekiah asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I will go up to the Temple of the Lord on the third day?”

⁹ Isaiah said, “Which do you want? Should the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?^[m] This is the sign for you from the Lord to show that the Lord will do what he said he would do.”

¹⁰ Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten steps. No, make the shadow go back ten steps.”

¹¹ Then Isaiah prayed, and the Lord made the shadow move back ten steps. It went back up the steps that it had already been on.

Messengers From Babylon

¹² At that time Merodach Baladan son of Baladan was king of Babylon. He sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah when he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. ¹³ Hezekiah listened to the messengers and then showed them all the valuable things he owned. He showed them the silver, the gold, the spices, the expensive perfume, and the building where he stored the weapons. He showed them everything in his treasuries, in his palace, and in his kingdom.

¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say? Where did they come from?”

Hezekiah said, “These men came from a faraway country, from Babylon.”

¹⁵ Isaiah said, “What did they see in your palace?”

Hezekiah answered, “They saw everything I own. I showed them all my wealth.”

¹⁶ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to this message from the Lord. ¹⁷ The time is coming when everything in your palace and everything your ancestors have saved until today will be carried away to Babylon. Nothing will be left! The Lord said this. ¹⁸ The Babylonians will take your sons, and your sons will become officers^[n] in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

¹⁹ Then Hezekiah told Isaiah, “This message from the Lord is good.” (Hezekiah said this because he thought, “There will be real peace and security during my lifetime.”)

²⁰ All the great things that Hezekiah did, including his work on the pool and the aqueduct to bring water into the city, are written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah. ²¹ Hezekiah died and was buried with his ancestors. And his son Manasseh became the new king after him.

Manasseh Begins His Evil Rule Over Judah

21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to rule. He ruled 55 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.

² Manasseh did what the Lord said was wrong. He did the terrible things the other nations did. (And the Lord forced those nations to leave their country when the Israelites came.) ³ Manasseh rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He also built altars for Baal and made an Asherah pole, just as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh worshiped and served the stars of heaven. ⁴ He built altars to honor false gods in the Lord’s Temple. (This is the place the Lord was talking about when he said, “I will put my name in Jerusalem.”) ⁵ Manasseh built altars for the stars of heaven in the two courtyards of the Lord’s Temple. ⁶ He sacrificed his own son and burned him on the altar.^[o] He used different ways of trying to know the future. He visited mediums and wizards.

Manasseh did more and more things that the Lord saw as evil, which made the Lord angry. ⁷ Manasseh made a carved statue of Asherah. He put this statue in the Temple. The Lord had said to David and to David’s son Solomon about this Temple: “I have chosen Jerusalem from all the cities in Israel. I will put my name in the Temple in Jerusalem forever. ⁸ I will not cause the Israelites to leave the land that I gave to their ancestors. I will let the people stay in their land if they obey everything I commanded them and all the teachings that my servant Moses gave them.” ⁹ But the people did not listen to God. Manasseh did more evil things than all the nations that lived in Canaan before Israel came. And the Lord destroyed those nations when the Israelites came to take their land.

¹⁰ The Lord used his servants the prophets to say this: ¹¹ “King Manasseh of Judah has done these hated things and has done more evil than the Amorites before him. He also has caused Judah to sin because of his idols. ¹² So the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Look! I will bring so much trouble against Jerusalem and Judah that anyone who hears about it will be shocked.^{[p] 13} I will stretch the measuring line of Samaria^[q] and the plumb line^[r] of Ahab’s family over Jerusalem. A man wipes a dish, and then he turns it upside down. I will do that to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ There will still be a few of my people left, but I will leave them. I will give them to their enemies. Their enemies will take them as prisoners—they will be like the valuable things soldiers take in war. ¹⁵ This is because my people did what I said was wrong. They have made me angry with them since the day their ancestors came up out of Egypt. ¹⁶ And Manasseh killed many innocent people. He filled Jerusalem from one end to another with blood. And all these sins are in addition to the sins that caused Judah to sin. Manasseh caused Judah to do what the Lord said was wrong.’”

¹⁷ All the things that Manasseh did, including the sins that he committed, are written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah. ¹⁸ Manasseh died and was buried with his ancestors. He was buried in the garden at his house. It was called the “Garden of Uzza.” His son Amon became the new king after him.

Amon’s Short Rule

¹⁹ Amon was 22 years old when he began to rule. He ruled two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz from Jotbah.

²⁰ Amon did what the Lord said was wrong, just as his father Manasseh had done. ²¹ Amon lived just as his father had lived. He worshiped and served the same idols his father had worshiped. ²² Amon left the Lord, the God of his ancestors, and did not live the way the Lord wanted.

²³ Amon’s servants made plans against him and killed him in his palace. ²⁴ The common people killed all the officers who made plans against King Amon. Then the people made Amon’s son Josiah the new king after him.

²⁵ The other things that Amon did are written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah. ²⁶ Amon was buried in his grave at the Garden of Uzza. His son Josiah became the new king.

Josiah Begins His Rule Over Judah

22 Josiah was eight years old when he began to rule. He ruled 31 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. ² Josiah did what the Lord said was right. He followed God like his ancestor David. Josiah obeyed God’s teachings—he did exactly what God wanted.

Josiah Orders the Temple Repaired

³ During the 18th year that Josiah was king, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the Lord’s Temple. Josiah said, ⁴ “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest. Tell him that he must get the money that people brought to the Lord’s Temple. The gatekeepers collected that money from the people. ⁵ The priests must use that money to pay the workers to repair the Lord’s Temple. They must give that money to the men who supervise the work on the Lord’s Temple. ⁶ Use that money for the carpenters, stonemasons, and stonecutters. Also use that money to buy the timber and cut stones that are needed to repair the Temple. ⁷ Don’t count the money that you give to the workers. They can be trusted.”

Book of the Law Found in the Temple

⁸ Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “Look, I found the Book of the Law^[s] in the Lord’s Temple!” Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and Shaphan read it.

⁹ He went to King Josiah and told him what happened. Shaphan said, “Your servants have gathered all the money that was in the Temple. They gave it to the men who supervise the work on the Lord’s Temple.” ¹⁰ Then he told the king, “And Hilkiah the priest also gave this book to me.” Then Shaphan read the book to the king.

¹¹ When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes to show he was sad and upset. ¹² Then he gave a command to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant. ¹³ King Josiah said, “Go and ask the Lord what we should do. Ask for me, for the people, and for all Judah. Ask about the words of this book that was found. The Lord is angry with us, because our ancestors did not listen to the words of this book. They did not obey all the commands that were written for us.”

Josiah and Huldah the Prophetess

¹⁴ So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the woman prophet. Huldah was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas. He took care of the priests’ clothes. Huldah was living in the second quarter in Jerusalem. They went and talked with Huldah.

¹⁵ Then Huldah said to them, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me: ¹⁶ ‘The Lord says this: I am bringing trouble on this place and on the people who live here. These are the troubles that are mentioned in the book that the king of Judah read. ¹⁷ The people of Judah have left me and have burned incense to other gods. They made me very angry. They made many idols. That is why I will show my anger against this place. My anger will be like a fire that cannot be stopped!’

^18-19 “King Josiah of Judah sent you to ask advice from the Lord. Tell Josiah that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘You heard the words I spoke against this place and those who live here. And when you heard those things, your heart was soft, and you showed your sorrow before the Lord. I said that terrible things would happen to this place. So you tore your clothes to show your sadness, and you began to cry. That is why I heard you.’ This is what the Lord says. ²⁰ ‘I will bring you to be with your ancestors. You will die and go to your grave in peace. So your eyes will not see all the trouble that I am bringing on this place.’”

Then Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah gave that message to the king.

The People Hear the Law

23 King Josiah told all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem to come and meet with him. ² Then the king went up to the Lord’s Temple. All the people of Judah and the people who lived in Jerusalem went with him. The priests, the prophets, and all the people—from the least important to the most important—went with him. Then he read the Book of the Agreement. This was the Book of the Law that was found in the Lord’s Temple. Josiah read the book so that all the people could hear it.

³ The king stood by the column and made an agreement with the Lord. He promised to follow the Lord and to obey his commands, the laws, and his rules. He promised to do this with all his heart and soul. He promised to obey the agreement written in this book. All the people stood to show that they promised to follow the agreement.

⁴ Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the other priests, and the gatekeepers to bring out of the Lord’s Temple all the dishes and things that were made to honor Baal, Asherah, and the stars of heaven. Then Josiah burned those things outside Jerusalem in the fields in Kidron Valley. Then they carried the ashes to Bethel.

⁵ The kings of Judah had chosen some ordinary men to serve as priests. These false priests were burning incense at the high places in every city of Judah and all the towns around Jerusalem. They burned incense to honor Baal, the sun, the moon, the constellations, and all the stars in the sky. But Josiah stopped those false priests.

⁶ Josiah removed the Asherah pole from the Lord’s Temple. He took the Asherah pole outside the city to the Kidron Valley and burned it there. Then he beat the burned pieces into dust and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people.^[t]

⁷ Then King Josiah broke down the houses of the male prostitutes who were in the Lord’s Temple. Women also used these houses and made little tent covers to honor the false goddess Asherah.

^8-9 At that time the priests did not bring the sacrifices to Jerusalem and offer them on the Lord’s altar in the Temple. The priests lived in cities all over Judah. They burned incense and offered sacrifices at the high places in those cities. The high places were everywhere, from Geba to Beersheba. And the priests ate their unleavened bread in those towns with the ordinary people—not at the special place for priests in the Temple in Jerusalem. But King Josiah ruined the high places and brought the priests to Jerusalem. Josiah also destroyed the high places that were on the left side of the city gate, by the Gate of Joshua. (Joshua was the ruler of the city.)

¹⁰ Topheth was a place in the Valley of Hinnom’s Son where people killed their children and burned them on an altar to honor the false god Molech.^[u] Josiah ruined that place so that no one could use it again. ¹¹ In the past the kings of Judah had put some horses and a chariot near the entrance to the Lord’s Temple. This was near the room of an important official named Nathan Melech. The horses and chariot were to honor the sun god.^[v] Josiah removed the horses and burned the chariot.

¹² In the past the kings of Judah had built altars on the roof of Ahab’s building. King Manasseh had also built altars in the two courtyards of the Lord’s Temple. Josiah destroyed all the altars and threw the broken pieces into the Kidron Valley.

¹³ In the past King Solomon built some high places on Destroyer Hill near Jerusalem. The high places were on the south side of that hill. King Solomon built one of these places of worship to honor Ashtoreth, that horrible thing the people of Sidon worship. He also built one to honor Chemosh, that horrible thing the Moabites worship. And King Solomon built one high place to honor Milcom, that horrible thing the Ammonites worship. But King Josiah ruined all these places of worship. ¹⁴ He broke all the memorial stones and Asherah poles. Then he scattered dead men’s bones over that place.^[w]

¹⁵ Josiah also broke down the altar and high place at Bethel. Jeroboam son of Nebat had made this altar. Jeroboam caused Israel to sin.^[x] Josiah broke down both that altar and the high place. He broke the stones of the altar to pieces. Then he beat it into dust and he burned the Asherah pole. ¹⁶ Josiah looked around and saw graves on the mountain. He sent men, and they took the bones from the graves. Then he burned the bones on the altar. In this way Josiah ruined the altar. This happened according to the message from the Lord that the man of God announced.^[y] The man of God announced these things when Jeroboam stood beside the altar at the feast.

Then Josiah looked around and saw the grave of the man of God.^[z]

¹⁷ Josiah said, “What is that monument I see?”

The people of the city told him, “It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah. This man of God told about the things you have done to the altar at Bethel. He said them a long time ago.”

¹⁸ Josiah said, “Leave the man of God alone. Don’t move his bones.” So they left his bones and the bones of the man of God from Samaria.

¹⁹ Josiah also destroyed all the temples at the high places in the cities of Samaria. The kings of Israel had built those temples, which had made the Lord very angry. Josiah destroyed them, just as he had destroyed the place of worship at Bethel.

²⁰ Josiah killed all the priests of the high places that were in Samaria. He killed the priests on those altars and burned men’s bones on the altars so that they could never be used again. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

The People of Judah Celebrate Passover

²¹ Then King Josiah gave a command to all the people. He said, “Celebrate the Passover for the Lord your God. Do this just as it is written in the Book of the Agreement.”

²² The people had not celebrated a Passover like this since the days when the judges ruled Israel. None of the kings of Israel or the kings of Judah ever had such a big celebration for Passover. ²³ They celebrated this Passover for the Lord in Jerusalem during Josiah’s 18th year as king.

²⁴ Josiah destroyed the mediums, wizards, the house gods, the idols, and all the horrible things people worshiped in Judah and Jerusalem. He did this to obey the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the Lord’s Temple.

²⁵ There had never been a king like Josiah before. Josiah turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his strength.^[aa] No king had followed all the Law of Moses like Josiah. And there has never been another king like Josiah since that time.

²⁶ But the Lord did not stop being angry with the people of Judah. He was still angry with them for everything that Manasseh had done. ²⁷ The Lord said, “I forced the Israelites to leave their land. I will do the same to Judah. I will take Judah out of my sight. I will not accept Jerusalem. Yes, I chose that city. I was talking about Jerusalem when I said, ‘My name will be there.’ But I will destroy the Temple that is in that place.”

²⁸ All the other things that Josiah did are written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah.

The Death of Josiah

²⁹ While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Neco, the king of Egypt, went to fight against the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. Josiah went out to meet Neco at Megiddo. Pharaoh saw Josiah and killed him. ³⁰ Josiah’s officers put his body in a chariot and carried him from Megiddo to Jerusalem. They buried Josiah in his own grave.

Then the common people took Josiah’s son Jehoahaz and anointed him. They made Jehoahaz the new king.

Jehoahaz Becomes King of Judah

³¹ Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king. He ruled three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. ³² Jehoahaz did what the Lord said was wrong. He did all the same things that his ancestors had done.

³³ Pharaoh Neco put Jehoahaz in prison at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Jehoahaz could not rule in Jerusalem. Pharaoh Neco forced Judah to pay 7500 pounds^[ab] of silver and 75 pounds^[ac] of gold.

³⁴ Pharaoh Neco made Josiah’s son Eliakim the new king. Eliakim took the place of Josiah his father. Pharaoh Neco changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. And Pharaoh Neco took Jehoahaz away to Egypt where he died. ³⁵ Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh. But Jehoiakim made the common people pay taxes and used that money to give to Pharaoh Neco. So everyone paid their share of silver and gold, and King Jehoiakim gave the money to Pharaoh Neco.

³⁶ Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah from Rumah. ³⁷ Jehoiakim did what the Lord said was wrong. He did all the same things his ancestors had done.

King Nebuchadnezzar Comes to Judah

24 In the time of Jehoiakim, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to the country of Judah. Jehoiakim served Nebuchadnezzar for three years. Then Jehoiakim turned against Nebuchadnezzar and broke away from his rule. ² The Lord sent groups of Babylonians, Arameans, Moabites, and Ammonites to fight against Jehoiakim. He sent them to destroy Judah. This happened just as the Lord had said. He used his servants the prophets to say those things.

³ The Lord commanded this to happen to Judah. In this way he would remove them from his sight. He did this because of all the sins that Manasseh committed. ⁴ He did this because Manasseh killed many innocent people and filled Jerusalem with their blood. The Lord would not forgive these sins.

⁵ The other things that Jehoiakim did are written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah. ⁶ Jehoiakim died and was buried with his ancestors. His son Jehoiachin became the new king after him.

⁷ The king of Babylon captured all the land between the Brook of Egypt and the Euphrates River. This land was previously controlled by Egypt. So the king of Egypt did not leave Egypt anymore.

Nebuchadnezzar Captures Jerusalem

⁸ Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he began to rule. He ruled three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem. ⁹ Jehoiachin did what the Lord said was wrong. He did all the same things that his father had done.

¹⁰ At that time the officers of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and surrounded it. ¹¹ Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to the city. ¹² King Jehoiachin of Judah went out to meet the king of Babylon. His mother, his officers, leaders, and officials also went with him. Then the king of Babylon captured Jehoiachin. This was during the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule.

¹³ Nebuchadnezzar took from Jerusalem all the treasures in the Lord’s Temple and all the treasures in the king’s palace. He cut up all the golden dishes that King Solomon of Israel had put in the Lord’s Temple. This happened just as the Lord had said.

¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar captured all the people of Jerusalem, including the leaders and other wealthy people. He took 10,000 people and made them prisoners. He took all the skilled workers and craftsmen. No one was left, except the poorest of the common people. ¹⁵ Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon as a prisoner. He also took the king’s mother, his wives, officers, and the leading men of the land. He took them from Jerusalem to Babylon as prisoners. ¹⁶ There were 7000 soldiers. Nebuchadnezzar took all the soldiers and 1000 of the skilled workers and craftsmen. All these men were trained soldiers, ready for war. The king of Babylon took them to Babylon as prisoners.

King Zedekiah

¹⁷ The king of Babylon made Mattaniah the new king. Mattaniah was Jehoiachin’s uncle. He changed his name to Zedekiah. ¹⁸ Zedekiah was 21 years old when he began to rule. He ruled 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. ¹⁹ Zedekiah did what the Lord said was wrong. He did all the same things that Jehoiakim did. ²⁰ The Lord became so angry with Jerusalem and Judah that he threw them away.

Nebuchadnezzar Ends Zedekiah’s Rule

Zedekiah rebelled and refused to obey the king of Babylon.

25 So King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and all his army came to fight against Jerusalem. This happened on the 10th day of the tenth month of Zedekiah’s ninth year as king. Nebuchadnezzar put his army around Jerusalem to stop people from going in and out of the city. Then he built a wall of dirt around the city. ² His army stayed around Jerusalem until Zedekiah’s eleventh year as king of Judah. ³ The famine was getting worse and worse in the city. By the 9th day of the fourth month, there was no more food for the common people in the city.

⁴ Nebuchadnezzar’s army finally broke through the city wall. That night King Zedekiah and all his soldiers ran away. They used the secret gate that went through the double walls. It was by the king’s garden. The enemy soldiers were all around the city, but Zedekiah and his men escaped on the road to the desert. ⁵ The Babylonian army chased King Zedekiah and caught him near Jericho. All of Zedekiah’s soldiers left him and ran away.

⁶ The Babylonians took King Zedekiah to the king of Babylon at Riblah. The Babylonians decided to punish Zedekiah. ⁷ They killed Zedekiah’s sons in front of him. Then they put out Zedekiah’s eyes. They put chains on him and took him to Babylon.

Jerusalem Is Destroyed

⁸ Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem on the 7th day of the fifth month of his nineteenth year as king of Babylon. The captain of Nebuchadnezzar’s best soldiers was Nebuzaradan. ⁹ Nebuzaradan burned the Lord’s Temple, the king’s palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem. He destroyed even the largest houses.

¹⁰ Then the Babylonian army that was with Nebuzaradan pulled down the walls around Jerusalem. ¹¹ Nebuzaradan captured all the people who were still left in the city. He took all the people as prisoners, even those who had tried to surrender. ¹² He let only the poorest of the common people stay there. He let them stay so that they could take care of the grapes and other crops.

¹³ The Babylonian soldiers broke into pieces all the bronze things in the Lord’s Temple. They broke the bronze columns, the bronze carts, and the large bronze tank^[ad] that were in the Lord’s Temple. Then they took all of that bronze to Babylon. ¹⁴ The Babylonians also took the pots, the shovels, the tools for trimming the lamps, the spoons, and all the bronze dishes that were used in the Temple. ¹⁵ Nebuzaradan took all the firepans and bowls. He took all the things made of gold for the gold. And he took everything made of silver for the silver. ^16-17 So Nebuzaradan took the large bronze tank and the 2 bronze columns. (Each column was about 31 feet^[ae] tall. The capitals on the columns were over 5 feet^[af] tall. They were made from bronze and had a design like a net and pomegranates. Both columns had the same kind of design.) He also took the carts that Solomon made for the Lord’s Temple. The bronze from these things was too heavy to be weighed.

The People of Judah Taken as Prisoners

¹⁸ From the Temple, Nebuzaradan took Seraiah the high priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three men who guarded the entrance.

¹⁹ From the city Nebuzaradan took one official who was in charge of the army and five of the king’s advisors^[ag] who were still in the city. He took one secretary of the commander of the army who was in charge of counting the common people and choosing some of them to be soldiers and 60 people who just happened to be in the city.

^20-21 Then Nebuzaradan took all these people to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the area of Hamath. The king of Babylon killed them there at Riblah. And the people of Judah were led away as prisoners from their land.

Gedaliah, Governor of Judah

²² King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon left some people in the land of Judah. There was a man named Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan. Nebuchadnezzar made Gedaliah governor over the people in Judah.

²³ The army captains were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth from Netophah, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite. These army captains and their men heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, so they went to Mizpah to meet with him. ²⁴ Gedaliah made promises to these officers and their men. He said to them, “Don’t be afraid of the Babylonian officers. Stay here and serve the king of Babylon. Then everything will be all right with you.”

²⁵ Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama was from the king’s family. In the seventh month, Ishmael and ten of his men attacked Gedaliah and killed all the men of Judah and Babylonians who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah. ²⁶ Then the army officers and all the people ran away to Egypt. Everyone, from the least important to the most important, ran away because they were afraid of the Babylonians.

²⁷ Later, Evil Merodach became the king of Babylon. He let King Jehoiachin of Judah out of prison. This happened in the 37th year after Jehoiachin was captured. This was on the 27th day of the twelfth month from the time that Evil Merodach began to rule. ²⁸ Evil Merodach was kind to Jehoiachin. He gave him a more important place to sit than the other kings who were with him in Babylon. ²⁹ Evil Merodach let Jehoiachin stop wearing prison clothes. And every day for the rest of his life, he ate at the same table with the king. ³⁰ And each day, for as long as Jehoiachin lived, the king gave him enough money to pay for whatever he needed.